@cnn: A rare skeleton of Nanotyrannus, a smaller T. rex relative, has sold at auction at Sotheby's in New York for $47.3 million, after a 12-minute bidding war among six contenders. The specimen, named Jodi, is one of only three relatively complete Nanotyrannus skeletons known to science. Blowing well past an estimate of $6 to $9 million, the sale narrowly missed the auction record for a fossil, set in July with the sale of Gus – an exceptional T. rex skeleton that went under the hammer for $50.1 million. Measuring 9.6 feet tall and 19.6 feet long, Jodi is just over half the length of Gus, with scarcity of similar specimens likely playing a role in pushing the sale price up. Like several other important fossils previously sold at auction, Jodi comes from Hell Creek Formation, a geological boneyard stretching across Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. One of the first skeletons of T. rex was found there in 1902, and the name T. rex was given to the species based on fossils unearthed in the area. 📸: Matthew Sherman/Courtesy Sotheby's; Ben Levine/Courtesy Sotheby's

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Wednesday 28 October 2026 01:08:42 GMT